When the General was Sick
by LadyAlambiel
Summary: When the General was sick, High King Peter resolved to enlist the one person who could succeed to be the one who took care of the General.


Disclaimer: I don't own Narnia or any characters you may recognize from the books or the movies, I wish I did but I don't...

Summary: When the General was sick, High King Peter resolved to enlist the one person who could succeed to be the one who took care of the General.

A/N: This fluffy oneshot was requested by GeneralOreiusMyHeartxoxo and is set in my A Light in the Darkness universe. Warning: There are spoilers for the end of _A Light in the Darkness: Rekindled_, but you can read it as a standalone if you so choose. Enjoy!

**When the General was Sick...**

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I met Edmund's gaze and sighed, "Well, someone must see to the matter, Ed."

My brother rolled his eyes before he moved his bishop, capturing one of my rooks, "The few who are able and willing to do so are not available. And the others are all too scared to approach."

I frowned at the chessboard. There had to be someone who could… Kat walked into the room and I darted a look at Edmund, who gave me a slight nod. I turned back to Kat and gave her my most winning smile. She gave me a suspicious look, "What do you want that I don't want to do?"

Apparently, I need to work on my winning smile. I cleared my throat, ignoring Edmund snickering from his side of the table. "Well, Kat, we need you to do a favor."

"Mmhmm, what is it?"

I glanced at Edmund then back to Kat, "Well, you know that Oreius is sick, yes?"

"Yes, it's a cold and he won't stay in bed like the healers have told him to…all of Cair Paravel is painfully aware of those two facts."

I nodded, "Well, since Alithia and Ardon are away from the Cair…as is Tuulea, we were hoping, that is, wondering if you would…" I trailed off as Kat shook her head then turned to leave. "Kat? Where are you going?"

"I'm going to make sure the Kentauri follows to the healers' instructions otherwise we'll be stuck with him like this for far longer than necessary."

As she left, I glanced at Edmund, "I really hope she can get Oreius to listen."

He raised his coffee to me and grinned, "Let's just thank Aslan that _we_ are not the ones who have to deal with him." And, I did right before I moved my knight, putting Edmund's king in check for a brief moment.

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Marching into the Kentauri's quarters, I shook my head as I found him standing in the middle of the parlor, hacking his lungs up. Stubborn Centaur. I carried the tray past him and into his bedroom, setting it down on a nightstand. Hearing him behind me (still hacking up his lungs), I turned and gave him my best healer's glare as I pointed to the bed, "Oreius, go back to bed, preferably before you infect the whole army with your cold. I mean, honestly, aren't you old enough to know better? It's Stormfall, if you keep trying to oversee training, you will end up with pneumonia."

The Kentauri stared at me then coughed before he raised an eyebrow at the one thing I hadn't put down yet, "What is that?"

I lifted the coil of rope and deadpanned, "Insurance that you will stay in bed."

He rolled his eyes, but I'd won since he returned to the bed. He propped himself up with one elbow as he had another hacking fit. I didn't say a word as I propped the pillows up so he was leaning against them instead of fully lying down. His eyes were a little glassy, but when I checked he didn't feel hot enough to have a fever. I poured him some tea and handed him the cup, "Drink all of this…before you hack up your lungs."

He gave me an affronted look, scowling fiercely as he rasped, "I have never done anything so vulgar as 'hack up my lungs.'"

"No, it just sounds that way." I pushed the cup up, "Drink." I crossed my arms and glared at the stubborn Centaur until he finally drank the tea (that's right, Oreius, I can outglare you when you're sick). I smirked at the scowl he gave me when I immediately refilled his cup, "And, people say I am the stubborn one of the two of us."

Oreius opened his mouth, no doubt to argue with my statement, but instead, he began hacking so hard that I barely rescued the tea before he spilled it all over himself and his bed. Setting the teacup back on the tray I picked up the second treatment and perched on the edge of the bed as Oreius finally stopped coughing and relaxed back against the pillows. He frowned at the roll of muslin and the bowl of mustard paste, "What is that?"

I ignored him as I set the items down then walked over to his trunk, lifting the lid to search through the tunics until I found one that was suitably worn-looking. Returning to Oreius' side, I started spreading the mustard paste on the muslin, "I'm making a mustard plaster. You know if you hadn't been so stubborn and actually followed the healers' instructions, you wouldn't be feeling so bad. And, you wouldn't be on the brink of pneumonia. Lean forward." I wrapped the mustard plaster around his chest and back then helped him pull the old tunic over it all before I allowed him to lean back again.

He coughed and sneezed for almost the entire twenty minutes he had the plaster on. Oreius got out of bed and pulled the tunic off as soon as I told him he could do so, I barely got him to allow me to take the plaster off. A quick inspection showed his skin was slightly reddened, but no blistering had appeared. He entered the bathroom to clean up while I poured some more of the chamomile tea that Susan had made when she heard I'd been coerced into tending the Kentauri. Coerced… I couldn't help snickering.

"What are you laughing about, Alambiel?"

I glanced at the Kentauri then pointed to his bed, simply refusing to answer until he had settled himself (it was very effective…of course, he was very sick) and ignoring him as he growled under his breath about cheeky pests turning annoyingly bossy. "Oh do stop growling, Oreius. You're not going to scare me off like you have the poor junior healers for the last few days. Besides, I should think you'd be happy to have my company." I perched on the side of the bed and handed him the tea, "Drink. Susan made it for you…after she heard Peter had coerced me into taking care of you while you're sick until Tuulea and/or Alithia get back."

Oreius nearly choked on his tea as he raised his eyebrows at me, "_Coerced?_"

I snickered and nodded, "Yes, a chara, they think they coerced me into dealing with you." The Kentauri still looked somewhat offended, but calling him 'a chara' _(dear)_ earned me a slight yet pleased smile. I watched him take another drink then whispered, "Least this way no one will come to see if I irritated you into strangling me." Oreius rolled his eyes then grabbed my hand and squeezed lightly. I squeezed back, reminding myself that kissing the sick Kentauri would only result in _my_ becoming sick. It was amusing that no one had figured out that Oreius and I were secretly courting yet, but I was grateful for the absence of the chaos sure to accompany the public announcement of our courtship.

It took six days (and many, many, many complaints from the Kentauri) before his cold finally dissipated. A week after that, I had been stomping around in the snow, helping gather some of the decorations for Yuletide, and had hidden a little celebratory object in the folds of my skirts as I made my way back to Oreius' quarters, ostensibly to make sure that he wasn't overdoing things. Entering his quarters, I noticed the door to his study was closed and I shook my head. It was impossible to keep him away from his paperwork. I paused outside the door, listening, but the only one I heard moving around in the room was the Kentauri. I tapped once on the door then let myself in, closing the door behind me.

Oreius didn't look up from his paperwork and I rolled my eyes. Some things would never change. I hopped up on the corner of his desk and placed a sprig of mistletoe in the center of the report he was reading. He stilled and I grinned, "If you are feeling better, Kentauri, it is Yuletide."

I now had his full attention (figures it only took some heavy hinting that I wanted him to kiss me to break through the world of the paperwork sirens) and the Kentauri picked up the mistletoe sprig then held it over my head. He gently cupped my chin and I leaned toward him, closing my eyes as we kissed. Oreius kept the kiss light and tender then he kissed my forehead before kissing my lips again. Naturally, Murphy just had to interfere and be a complete moment killer. I heard hooves and quickly leaned back as Oreius set the mistletoe sprig in the report on his desk and closed it, hiding the evidence. I improvised, grumbling just as the moment killer knocked, "Catapults are not an outrageous or disastrous request. Why do you always say that?"

Oreius' eyes laughed at me before he assumed a stern expression, "Because it is _outrageous_ to think I would agree to them when we all know that it would be _disastrous_ for you to be within five yards of a catapult. Enter." As the door opened, he scribbled a note and slipped it in before handing me the mistletoe report, "Check this report then bring it back to me later. And, get off my desk."

I rolled my eyes and hopped off his desk just as one of Oreius' lieutenants entered the room. He gave me a wide berth as I stalked out. I didn't stop muttering about outrageous, disastrous catapults until I'd reached my own quarters. Then, and only then, did I allow myself a smile at the Kentauri's expense. Grouchy patient he may have been, but I'd enjoyed being able to steal some unexpected time together when I was taking care of him. I opened the mistletoe report and burst out laughing at the note resting crookedly on the mistletoe sprig: _For my favorite and most beautiful healer. I look forward to the next time our sovereigns coerce you into doing something with me. Oreius. _

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**A/N: Please Read and Review! Leave a review and let me know if you have any requests or suggestions for more oneshots with Oreius and Kat trying to keep their relationship a secret. **


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